Phil Fish

Much has been said about Phil Fish, the lead designer of Fez. He caused a small uproar at the Game Developers Conference in March with his contention that Japanese games are terrible (to put it mildly). There’s nothing wrong with opinionated developers, but if one is going to make a statement like that in front of someone who happens to be a Japanese developer, it’s best to be polite and phrase it better.

The comment irked some fans so much that they decided to boycott Fish’s game. And that’s a shame. It speaks for a need to separate artists from their creations. The visionaries who come up with masterpieces aren’t saints. They have their flaws and human weaknesses. Celebrated writer Yukio Mishima killed himself via seppuku after a failed coup attempt in Japan in 1970. Filmmaker Elia Kazan named names to the House Un-American Activities Committee. But those acts and political stances shouldn’t detract from the masterpieces they made. In the long run, it’s the work that speaks for itself rather than the artist. And the same should be said for Fish and Fez.